IN RECENT weeks, peace in Mindanao was very much the concern of leaders here and abroad and optimism over its prospects was in the air. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, during her lightning visit here, urged the Philippine government to push the peace process and affirmed that this has the full support of the United States. Earlier this month, my husband and I were invited by Japanese Ambassador Makoto Katsura and Mme. Yasuko Katsura to a quiet dinner at their North Forbes home and the peace process was among the topics of our conversation. The media also reported how some 300,000 refugees, now housed in various refugee camps in Western and Central Mindanao, have been pining for peace, so that they could return to their homes after the breakdown of the peace process in August 2008.
Last Monday that yearning for peace was shattered anew in a politically motivated massacre in Maguindanao of over 50, among them women members of a political clan and media representatives who mistakenly thought they could provide the security the faction needed. The killings were marked by unprecedented brutality. The victims were quickly buried in crude mass graves. The massacre has shocked the world and given the Philippines a black eye.
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Several things are evident in the Maguindanao tragedy. There?s the continuing poverty of the people which makes them easy to exploit by unscrupulous politicians who cream off the resources. There?s the uncontrolled proliferation of firearms. It has also been noted that for a long while the two warring factions?the Ampatuans and the Mangudadatus?were very close allies, until the latter chose to encroach on the territory of the other. But this happens not only in Muslim areas, but the barbarism in Maguindanao was exceptional.
The root cause of clan wars in this country, however, stems from the fact that political and economic power is concentrated in the hands of political dynasties, which feel that this power must be protected and defended even at all cost. Through various administrations, the anti-dynasty provision in the Constitution has defied fleshing out, since the time Sen. Jovito Salonga first filed such a bill, only to see it voted down. In a promising effort to amend the Constitution after 2010, libertarians must push for such a law if violence is to be minimized.
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Former Sen. Sergio Osmeña recently denounced what he called the ?LP Mafia? surrounding Liberal Party presidential candidate Noynoy Aquino and the infighting within that caused him to bolt the party and run as an independent senatorial candidate. Osmeña warned Aquino, whom he continues to support, to be wary of those around him.
Reports of fierce infighting among the various blocs within the LP have buzzed in the media for weeks now. Even before the sudden decision of Sen. Mar Roxas to step down in favor of Aquino, there was talk that former Senate President Salonga, who has been close to the Roxas family for years, had objected to it because he felt that Mar was far more qualified to be the LP?s top bet. But the Drilon faction and the Hyatt 10 group reportedly confronted Roxas to announce their withdrawal of support and their switch to Noynoy. Reports said Salonga at first refused to attend the Club Filipino turnover, and a legal luminary had to appeal to him personally to show up for Mar?s sake.
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Osmeña?s revelations about the ambitious and seemingly power-hungry groups surrounding Noynoy have caused some potential supporters to question his ability to exercise proper leadership. Apparently, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel, Cory Aquino?s first interior secretary who?s supporting the candidacy of Sen. Manny Villar, saw this danger when he opined that Noynoy lacks ?maturity and seasoning.? By contrast, it?s hard to see how Villar, whose leadership has been severely tested in both chambers of Congress and the private sector, can be manipulated by anyone. Neither can it be said of Lakas-Kampi top bet Gilbert Teodoro, who reportedly pushed for a party reorganization and handpicked Saranggani Gov. Miguel Dominguez as new party president and Christian-Democrat ideologue Francis Manglapus as new secretary-general, despite initial grumbling from some party elders.
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From former SBMA Chairman Felicito ?Tong? Payumo comes this request to help the Ateneo Class ?59 Golden Jubilarians publicize their fund-raising (target amount is P2.5 million) for either an Ateneo College ?59 perpetual scholarship endowment for underprivileged but deserving students in college, or a professorial chair in a field the class will choose in consultation with Ateneo authorities. Payumo says the class project is timed to mark two big events: the Grand Alumni Homecoming on Dec. 12, 2009, of which their class is the Golden Jubilarian class; and the university?s ?Sesquicentennial celebration,? marking 150 years of Jesuit presence here since their return from exile.
Ateneo College Class ?59 is among the most star-studded. Its members include former President Joseph Estrada (even though he didn?t graduate from college), and some of his officials such as Ambassador Jun Siazon, former Energy Secretary Mario Tiaoqui, the late Bangko Sentral Gov. Rafael Buenaventura and former PNOC Chair Antonio Lopa. There are also Supreme Court Justice Adolf Azcuna, former PAL president Roman Cruz Jr., Deputy BIR Commissioner Cari Sevilla, lawyer Fernando Chua and my brother Roger Olivares, businessman and author of ?Noli Me Tangere 2? and other novels. All class members are enjoined to help raise the P2.5 million, which shall be turned over during the Dec. 12 homecoming. Inquiries may be made to class secretary-general Rudy ?Kamlon? Ledesma, at 269 Katipunan Ave., Loyola Heights, Q.C., or at 0917-527-9218.
